Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 255

How Much Do Readers ‘Get’?

I don’t believe in lowest-common-demonenator writing. There should be books we’ll never fully understand and tales of such complexity we have to wrestle with them, even though there are fears that the days of complex or obscure writing are coming to an end, partly due to the new ADD that has replaced quiet contemplation (there’s […]

Back On The Rails

Maybe you’re a steam train enthusiast, but even if you don’t know your C-stock from a banana trifle and just long for the days when there were proper luggage racks, you may still wish to take a trip into the past this summer. All around the country steam trains are reappearing, including on the London […]

Dr Death Strikes Again

Every year the intriguing Robert Stephenson, City of London tour-guide, folklorist and gravestone expert, runs talks and walks around London. This summer season he’s talking about the temple of Diana inaugurated by Brutus upon which St Paul’s Cathedral is built, London’s more bonkers ceremonies and customs, its public execution sites (a popular favourite), its cemeteries […]

Coming Soon To A Kindle Near You

In the past year I’ve had a lot of requests to put my pre-Bryant & May novels online as digital copies. It’s a big project – there are a lot of books – but we’ve been working on it, with the result that a whacking great stack of digital books will be zooming your way […]

Movie Likes & Dislikes

Remember when Amelie Poulain got bothered by the way drivers in movies looked at their passengers without watching the road? I have that problem with so many scenes in films. I don’t mind if a film doesn’t quite make sense (I’ve seen ‘Bullitt’ at least a dozen times and still don’t quite get the plot) […]

Spot The Difference

The artist got it right the second time around.

A Short Horror Story In 50 Words

Many years ago I was asked to write a short horror story with a catch; it had to be no more or less than fifty words. I have no idea what the book was because I must have torn out my entry from it (clearly didn’t think much of the others) and stuck it behind […]

Re:View – ‘Snowpiercer’

If someone crossed a Terry Gilliam film with a graphic novel,Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Snowpiercer’ would be the result; a sumptuous SF premise with oddball characters that doesn’t go where you think it will – which is rather surprising, given that the Snowpiercer in question runs on a track. The premise: In order to head off global […]

One To Relish?

It now seems that the fixed-line telephone – an object which appeared late in my life (we didn’t have one until I was 17) may turn out to have been a relative flash in the pan after all. My mother bought a Trimphone, one of those phones which was so lightweight that it flew off […]

Rik Hits The Top 40

Shakespeare. Football. It’s obvious that they go together really. And the tragic loss of national treasure Rik Mayall means they finally have their day. With no official World Cup 2014 anthem, after the Football Association decided against releasing a new version of Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’ featuring Gary Barlow and Michael Owen, an online campaign […]